| Index | Last | Change | % Chg |
| DJ Industrials | 13792.47 | -77.79 | -0.56% |
| Nasdaq Comp | 2816.71 | -0.73 | -0.03% |
| S&P 500 | 1531.02 | -9.96 | -0.65% |
| DJ Wilshire 5K | 15482.01 | -99.47 | -0.64% |
| Russell 2000 | 816.15 | -5.57 | -0.68% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 2207.61 | 4.19 | 0.19% |
COMMENTS: Some traders are saying no matter what happens tomorrow with the rate cut, the market goes down. Nasdaq is clinging to gains while the rest of the market descends. This probably cannot continue.
| Issues | NYSE | Nasdaq | Amex |
| Advancing | 1,208 | 1,107 | 428 |
| Declining | 2,014 | 1,805 | 797 |
| Unchanged | 114 | 137 | 113 |
| New 52 Wk High | 115 | 111 | 45 |
| New 52 Wk Low | 66 | 122 | 33 |
| Total Volume | 1,222,392,050 | 2,199,138,917 | 41,401,233 |
| Advancing Vol | 382,231,810 | 969,019,767 | 12,834,660 |
| Declining Vol | 827,155,340 | 1,192,529,306 | 26,211,873 |
| Unchanged Vol | 13,004,900 | 37,589,844 | 2,354,700 |
| Futures | Last | Change | Chg% |
| Crude Oil | 89.64 | -3.89 | -4.16% |
| Natural Gas | 7.98 | 0.006 | 0.08% |
| Gold, Dec. | 784.9 | -7.7 | -0.97% |
Comments: Goldman Sachs called a top in oil today and said "take profits". The ultrashort DUG flew today up 7.32% as people did just that. With a slowing economy, oil's seasonally slow "shoulder" period and recent frothy run-up...oil's time has probably come. But I wouldn't rule out a final push to $100.
From Briefing.com:
| Moving the Market |  | Sector Watch |
| Investors await tomorrow's FOMC announcement October Consumer Confidence Index down to 95.6 from 99.5 Oil prices drop more than 3.0% as Goldman Sachs says to take profits | Strong: tires & rubber; commercial printing; personal products; home entertainment software; electric manufacturing services; food distribution; residential REITs; photo products; building products; retail REITs; systems software Weak: real estate management & development; office services & supplies; steel; oil & gas equipment; coal & consumable fuel; household products; oil & gas drilling; integrated oil & gas; oil & gas refineries; div. metals & mining |
The broader market traded lower Tuesday in a session of profit taking before Wednesday's FOMC decision. A weaker than expected consumer confidence report for October from the Conference Board garnered most of the blame for the retreat, but that was a fairly weak excuse given the poor correlation between confidence and spending. At the same time, given all of the headlines in the past month regarding rising oil prices and falling home prices, it shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone that confidence levels would be down from the prior month. Specifically, the reading for October was 95.6 versus 99.5 in September. Economists were expecting a reading of 99.5. Separately, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, which few people paid attention to when home prices were rising, indicated that home prices declined 4.4% in the 12-months ended in August. This, too, shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, but it was just another negative focal point that spurred investors to take some money off the table following a run in the last six sessions that saw the S&P 500 gain 2.7%. The hardest hit area today was the energy sector (-3.0%) which got clubbed in the wake of oil prices dropping 3.4% to $90.38 per barrel. The sudden drop was precipitated by a call from Goldman Sachs to take profits from the commodity's rally. The Goldman Sachs recommendation carried a lot of weight with traders who were cognizant that the firm has correctly called the move up in oil prices. The lone pocket of strength Tuesday was the technology sector (+0.6%), which was underpinned by the relative strength of large-cap leaders Microsoft (MSFT 35.57, +1.00), Apple (AAPL 187.00, +1.91) and Google (GOOG 694.77, +15.54). All other sectors registered a loss on Tuesday with materials (-2.2%) and telecom services (-1.3%) joining energy in the worst-performers circle. Procter & Gamble (PG 68.95, -2.88), in turn, was a notable laggard outside the aforementioned areas following the company's fiscal first quarter report and outlook. While Procter & Gamble met first quarter estimates, it failed to deliver on the market's heightened expectations when its earnings guidance for the second quarter of $0.95 to $0.97 merely bracketed the current consensus estimate and contained a warning about gross margin pressures. Solid reports and guidance from Colgate-Palmolive (CL 75.26, +1.00) and Avon Products (AVP 40.77, +1.77) helped offset the weakness in Procter & Gamble. Another stock of note was Merrill Lynch (MER 65.56, -1.86), which ran into selling interest following the firm's announcement that CEO Stanley O'Neal would be retiring effective immediately. O'Neal's departure was expected by many after Merrill's woeful third quarter performance, but investors didn't like the idea that Merrill Lynch refrained from naming a permanent replacement. On Wednesday the market will turn its full attention to the FOMC decision at 2:15 p.m. ET. Briefing.com sides with the expectation that the fed funds rate will be cut 25 basis points to 4.50% and that the discount rate will also be cut by 25 basis points to 5.00%. Prior to the FOMC decision participants will be digesting more earnings results, the weekly energy inventory report, and a large batch of economic data that includes the advanced reading for third quarter GDP, the third quarter employment cost index, the Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index for October, and September construction spending data. |
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